»02/06/2014PAKISTAN Christian girl abducted, converted and forced to marry a Muslim in Lahoreby Jibran Khan The family of Samariya Nadeem staged a protest this morning in front of the city's press club. For the past three weeks, their 16-year-old daughter has been in the hands of a wealthy landowner. As police and the authorities fail to free her, the Catholic Church calls for justice on the family's behalf. But for Muslim cleric, it is "not illegal to abduct and convert non-Muslims".

Lahore (AsiaNews)
- After a Pakistani Christian girl from Punjab was abducted by a
Muslim landowner, she was forced to marry him after conversion to Islam. Her family
reacted in a public protest, demanding justice from civil authorities.

Police and
the courts have failed so far to act and return the girl to her parents. The local
Catholic Church has instead backed the family, condemning the "widespread
practice" of kidnapping young Christian and Hindu women to marry them
forcibly to Muslims and reduce them to a "state of slavery".

The latest
episode involves a 16-year-old girl, Samariya Nadeem (Masih), who was abducted and
forcibly married to a rich landowner.

The abduction
took place 22 days ago in 270-TDA Layyah District when the young woman
was on her way to school.

The family filed
a complaint (First Information Report 14/14, under Section 365 B of the Penal
Code) with the police for the abduction reporting that Samariya was taken against
her will and forced to marry the man.

So far, police
have failed to pursue any legal action against the local wealthy Muslim landowner
who abducted the girl because of the influence he wields. Police investigators were
also unable to talk to the bruised and terrified victim.

Anonymous police
sources confirmed that the girl was "abducted" and forced to marry. However,
an Islamic cleric involved in the affair said that it was "not illegal to
abduct and convert non-Muslims".

This
morning, the family organised a protest rally in front of the Lahore Press Club.
Under Pakistani law, no one underage can be married without parental consent.

Civil
society groups and human rights activists have appealed to Punjab's chief minister
to take action and return Samariya to her parents and bring her abductor to
justice.

Kidnapping and
forced marriage have become a major issue in Pakistan, especially in southern Punjab
and in the interior of Sindh province.

This is "very
common in the region," said Fr Haroon James, a priest and activist in Lahore. Young
women and girls "are forcefully converted and married to influential landlords
who keep them as slaves."

Unfortunately,
people seem to be increasingly "hopeless". For this reason, the
Church has spoken out in the case, "demanding justice for her and the
family." Yet, "Despite the fact that a FIR has been
registered, the authorities have failed to act and protect the vulnerable," the
priest added.

With a
population of more than 180 million people (97 per cent Muslim), Pakistan is
the sixth most populous country in the world, the second largest Muslim nation
after Indonesia.

About 80 per
cent of Muslims are Sunni, whilst Shias are 20 per cent. Hindus
are 1.85 per cent, followed by Christians (1.6 per cent) and Sikhs (0.04 per
cent).

Violence against
ethnic and religious minorities is commonplace across the country, with Shia
Muslims and Christians as the main target, with things getting worse.

Dozens
incidents of violence have occurred in recent years, against individuals or entire communities, like in Gojra in 2009 or
Joseph Colony in Lahore in March 2013, often perpetrated under the pretext of
the country's blasphemy laws.

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